Home Again, Home Again
by airwolf addict
Summary: story 34. Although the team only recently returned, Michael is forced to call upon them again, this time to find a mysterious man causing mayhem throughout Europe.
1. Chapter 1

**CHAPTER 1**

_The last one to leave the plane, String finally started slowly down the steps, taking his time trying to make the trip as painless as possible for his bruised body._

_Dom waited at the bottom of the ramp in anticipation. He already knew the chances of Saint John coming back were slim, had known it a painfully long time and remembered it again each time String re-upped or extended his tour. He still missed him, but today was a day to celebrate. His boy was coming home._

Déjà vu, Dom thought as he waited as close to the flight line as he was allowed. There hadn't been as long of a separation, but there was just as much reason to celebrate today.

The plane landed and eventually the engines wound down to a stop, the passengers slowly coming down one or two at a time, picking up more along they way as the line continued. Again towards the end, he saw String first coming hand in hand with Caitlin, his new daughter in the other. Mike, his arm still in a sling, followed, with Saint John behind him ending the group.

It was good to see them although he knew he probably wasn't as glad to see them as they were to be back. Coming to greet them, he threw his arms around each of them, embracing them in a powerful hug.

"Good to see you, Dom."

"Not as good as it is to see all of you."

With a weary grin he handed over the tiny bundle he carried in his arms. "I think it's about time you meet you new granddaughter. This is Mia."

Cradling the baby, he looked down at what he thought must be the quiescence of perfection, amazed at just how small she was. Suddenly he could understand String's fears of breaking her, yet at the same time couldn't bear the thought of setting her down. "She's beautiful, String. And don't you worry about anything. I know you're going to do a fine job raising her just like you have been with Chance."

"That remains to be seen, I wouldn't say my track record is all that great myself. But let's not dwell on that at the moment though. Right now I just want ten hours of uninterrupted sleep."

"That's understandable. Catching up can wait until tomorrow I guess. Climb into the jeep and I'll drop ya'll off at home."

"You don't have to drop us off, Dom. I know you're tired too. We can stay at the hangar tonight or-"

"Nonsense. You may think that until you try sleeping on one of those old cots, but one you do I can assure you you will feel differently. If you don't mind not going out the cabin tonight, I'm not going to argue, but at least stay at my place tonight. Bunk beds and a sofa have got to be better than a piece of material stretched over a metal frame."

"Ok," he agreed, too tired to fight. And it was better, he knew, a lot better.

"You can stay with Ellie and I if you want to, Mike," Saint John offered.

"You sure? I mean, I could get a hotel in town or something if it's an inconvenience."

"It's not a problem, I have a lot more room now that… I never told you did I? Wow, I've been an idiot! Do you remember Ellie Mae?"

"Yeah."

"We're engaged, planning on getting married soon, maybe in the summer. I wanted to ask if you'd be in the wedding, but just realized I never told you we were getting married."

"Congratulations. I wish you both the best. As far as being _in _it though, I would love to. I just don't know where the Air For- You know what? To hell with it. Of course I'll be there. I'd be honored to."

"It's not going to be a problem with your schedule? I would understand if it was. You still have to meet your quals sometime soon I know, and-"

"I'm not going to be flying much like this anyway for a while. It will work out," Mike assured him. "I may not know how exactly yet, but I'll make sure it does. After all, it's not every day your best friend gets married."

\A/

**The Next Morning**

Just out of the shower, Saint John finished getting dressed as quickly as possible, afraid the bedroom door would eventually give way to the herd of kids eager to greet him after his extended absence.

Even as he finished fastening his belt, he opened the door, getting pounced upon by Le, Chance, and Joshua as soon as he did so.

"Saint John," Ellie called from down the hall as soon as he had managed to free himself.

"Yes?"

"The others are meeting at the diner for breakfast, are you going?"

"Sure, what time?"

"In fifteen minutes."

"Alright, I'll be ready," he answered, glancing at the clock on the nightstand. It would be more of a lunch meet, it already being 10:45, but he'd like the chance to catch up all the same. "Is Mike around?" he asked as he walked up the hall toward the living room where his fiancé was finishing getting ready.

"He just stepped outside," she replied. "What exactly happened to him?" she queried in a quieter tone, afraid she would somehow upset him if he overheard.

Saint John shook his head. "I don't know the details. His pickup plane was booby trapped, the whole thing blew sky high when they stepped inside."

"How's he doing? He looks pretty good, but…"

"It's wait and see. He messed up the one arm really good; the burns weren't as bad as they seemed though."

She nodded in acknowledgment. "What about Caitlin and String? They were only here for a minute last night. I heard she lost the kid, but I didn't want to ask so soon."

"She lost one," he confirmed, the expression on his face reminding her it wasn't east for him either. "Almost lost both, " but Mia appears to have inherited the propensity for survival. Plenty of doctor visits since she's premature, but they think the odds are looking pretty decent." He just hoped he could say the same for the rest of them.


	2. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER 2**

"You alright over there, Rivers?" Saint John asked, partly teasing and partly out of serious concern. "You've had like six glasses of orange juice and haven't touched your pancakes. Even String over here has managed to find something he'll eat."

"I'm fine," he answered, calling the waitress for another refill. "And it's only been four glasses." As if only to appease his concerned friends, he picked up the fork with his left hand and picked disinterestedly at the food in front of him.

"You sure? Because if you just aren't hungry you don't have to eat that."

"I'm sure," he assured them. "I, uh, I'll be back in a minute," he excused himself. Pushing his chair back and almost spilling the bottle of syrup in the process, he left he table and walked outside.

He wasn't really ok and he knew it, but what was he supposed to tell them? The whole right side of his body hurt more than he wanted to think about and that didn't even touch how his shoulder felt. Nobody seemed to notice all the painkillers he took with that orange juice, but he was painfully aware of it. He was also quite aware of how little it was doing to help. Whining and complaining about it wasn't going to help though. Letting out a deep sigh, he walked slowly back inside in an attempt to eat something. Maybe if he was lucky he could actually manage to make a couple bites into his mouth and keep it down.

Or maybe not, he thought as a nauseating wave hit him once again.

\A/

"Mike," the voice somewhere beyond the darkness around him called. "Rivers."

"Yeah?" he mouthed, the words not quite there yet.

"Mike."

"You don't have to shout; I'm not deaf. Not yet anyway," he answered, sitting up.

"Slowly, take it easy," Dom cautioned. "You alright?"

"I guess. What happened?"

"You passed out about four steps from the table," String supplied.

"About had coffee and a couple hot lunches on you too," Saint John added.

"Great," he muttered. He wanted to blame it on the side effects from the medicine and brush it off, but that could be said much easier than done he realized as he noticed the small crowd forming around him. "I'm alright, let's just get out of here before I start attracting an even bigger crowd."

Saint John helped him to his feet, never leaving his side as if feeling him to collapse again at any moment.

"Seriously, I'm fine," he assured him.

"I've played that game too many times to believe it."

"Really, I'll be alright, probably just … never mind."

"No, what were you going to say?"

"Probably just need to eat something. I haven't had anything worth mentioning for the last two days."

"That's what breakfast was for - eating. None of us had much yesterday, so we thought a nice breakfast after a good night's sleep would do us all good."

"It doesn't do much good when you can't sleep and do a terrible job at pretending to be left handed."

"Oh, it's not that hard, Mike."

"Maybe if you're born left handed. I wasn't though, far from it, and with my whole right arm being messed up from the shoulder down it's a little difficult."

"I understand where you're coming from," String broke in, " and I'm not going to say it's easy, that much I know from personal experience, but eventually it gets a little better with patience."

"Something I don't appear to have much of."

"I don't either, but what choice is there? I had a new son I felt like I should have been supporting, and I couldn't even tie my shoe or button my shirt. Look on the bright side though, at least you've got one good arm."

"I'll try to remember that." It was true, he realized. He and Hawke may occasionally have their differences, and there was no denying he was closer to Saint John, but it was his younger brother that had the experience on this one. Comparatively speaking, he had it good; he still had full use of his other arm and none of the limp String had had to deal with. He didn't have a family depending on him either, just himself to take care of and a circle of friends to help.

\A/

"Can't the FIRM send someone else?" Marella questioned. "They just got home… What do you- Fine." She hung up the satellite phone with more force than necessary.

"Careful, don't break it," Michael cautioned, a trace of a grin making its presence known on his lips. "What world-changing even can't wait this time according to the Committee?"

"They want use of a very controversial weapon. Again."

"Airwolf. You're right; considering how much they don't want Hawke and his family in possession of Airwolf, they come up with an awful lot of reasons for him to fly it for them."

"Some one is reeking terror and havoc throughout Europe, and the police haven't been able to catch him so far. Now he's threatened some assets of theirs so they want to send in Airwolf to eliminate the source of the problem by any means necessary."

"And they don't care that they just got home," Michael surmised. "We can't even use that excuse either since we want to claim they were never there in the first place."

She nodded.

"Goes to prove we can't get away, even for a couple minutes to welcome them back. Hawke only called this morning, and Zeus already wants to send him on his way again."


	3. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER 3**

"We have company," Hawke announced, "FIRM."

"A welcoming committee?" Caitlin asked hopefully.

"I doubt it. It was probably a mistake telling him we were back."

"Probably," she agreed, continuing to prepare Mia's bottle.

The white Long Ranger landed gently in the empty space at the end of the dock, let Michael and Marella out, and lifted off again.

"They're here."

A moment later Michael knocked on the door and Caitlin answered.

"Welcome back," he greeted.

She shook her head and smiled. "Come on in, both of you. What can I do for you?"

"Do for you? You don't believe this is a purely social visit?"

"Not for a second."

"I came to see this miracle daughter Hawke was talking about and see how my nearly blown apart major is."

"And?"

"And Zeus wants me to send you on a mission after some loony bent on terrorizing people throughout Europe," he admitted at last.

"Isn't there some other way? We just got back last night; we haven't even been home a full day. Besides, most of us aren't in any shape to be going anywhere."

"Hawke and Dominic are, that's as much as the team started off with. Saint John looked alright too. I wish I could put it off, but I've already been taking a lot of heat putting of questions of where all have you have been the last few weeks as it is."

She let out a deep sigh, but nodded in understanding.

"Would you hold her?" Caitlin requested, indicating the tiny baby in her arms guzzling away at the bottle.

Michael reluctantly accepted, taking her into his arms and watching as Caitlin left the room to tell the news to the others. Honestly he did hate having to do this, he realized as his gaze fell to the child he now held. Being physically able had nothing to do with it; actually he almost wished they weren't so he couldn't send them. Mia, he thought, not the name that would have come to mind first, but he liked it. The poor kid had just gotten home, and already he was sending on her parents around the world on dangerous missions. Welcome to the not so wonderful world of spying and covert operations.

"A mission?" Dominic demanded. "Michael, they _just _got back. Mike can't go and personally I think he could use a little support, not having all the friends who said they'd stick with him leave. Cait doesn't need to be left alone either; she just had a baby, Michael, not to mention almost dying, and you're already-"

"I know," he interrupted. "I know what I'm doing and, damn it, I hate it. I don't have much choice though. Zeus, the whole Committee for that matter, says you're going. You to have to go or take on the Committee.

"That's pretty tempting at the moment."

"Remember, as much as I appreciate what you did and support your choice, the recovery mission wasn't official. You weren't supposed to be there, so I can't use that as an excuse. If you can just take out this guy, he doesn't even have to be brought back alive, you can get on with life. I'm sorry to have to send you, I don't want to, but that's how it is."

"There's no other way?"

"None I can think of. This person has contacts somewhere. He's constantly on the move, obviously has some funding to come up with such serious artillery power and so far no one else has been able to catch him. Airwolf is truly the way to go. It has the speed, firepower, and tracking ability…"

"Fine," Hawke finally agreed. "I'll go take the Lady and see if I can track down this guy, but if I can't coming home and someone else will have to deal with it. I can understand this is important, but so is my family."

\A/

"Thanks for the ride, Dom," String said he climbed out of the helicopter just inside the lair, "I appreciate it."

"Not just a ride, I'm coming with you."

"You don't have to do that. It shouldn't be that difficult of a job."

"It doesn't matter. I've got your back, even on the so-called easy ones. I've seen them go badly before and aim not to let it happen again. You've got a daughter to look out for, not to mention you still have Chance and Cait. Somebody still has to look out for you occasionally though; that's my job. I wasn't there last time you needed me, but I want you to know I'm backing you this time no matter what, just like old times."

Hawke gave him a lopsided grin. "I never doubted you were backing me, but I appreciate it all the same. We best get going though before our troublemaker reeks any more havoc."


	4. Chapter 4

**CHAPTER 4**

"Daddy!"

Wearily, Caitlin got up and trudged across the balcony to the other room, this time to attend Chance instead of Mia.

"Daddy!" he continued whining as she entered the room.

"Shh, it's alright."

"I want Daddy."

"Daddy isn't here. You're alright though, it was just a bad dream," she coaxed, trying to get him to calm down before he woke his sister.

"Daddy's gone again?"

"Yeah, but he should be back soon."

Chance nodded and pulled the covers back up over himself. He be back tomorrow?"

"Maybe not tomorrow, but in a couple days."

"How come I can't go wif him?"

"Honey, it's not that he doesn't want you with him, it's just that sometimes what he does is a little dangerous and he doesn't want you to get hurt."

"I went before," he argued.

"He didn't have any choice then. Whenever possible he wants you to stay home where it's safer though."

"Why does he go then?"

"It's complicated. What he does, what all of us do, is sometimes dangerous, but we do it to help other people and to keep it safe so kids like you can grow up without having to have to worry about all the bad guys."

"I want to go with him. I'll help."

"Maybe when you're older. For now, just worry about growing up. In another year you'll start school and a lot will change between now and then. But, if you still want to when you're old enough, maybe."

Truthfully she wasn't sure she ever wanted him to become involved in something like Airwolf. It was for a good cause and she couldn't be more proud of him, but there was no denying the dangers that came along with the territory, and she wasn't sure she wanted him to have to go through that. If things continued the way they were it was a good possibility he would eventually end up doing something similar though. Once you started she wasn't she how you could just step away, but it inherently caused pain, both physically and emotionally at some point, and the longer you stuck with it the more it was likely to cause.

\A/

"Did you ever get any more specifics on what 'terror' this person was creating?" Dom asked. "He never was very specific with me."

"He said we would know it when it happened. Unfortunately, it looks like we're going to have to wait until something happens before we can start hunting," he answered, taking another sip of coffee.

"Wait a second," Dom stopped him, "look at that," he said, pointing to the newsstand behind him where a reporter was covering a hotel bombing from a nearby city.

"Let's go," Hawke returned, leaving money for the drinks on the table.

As soon as they were in the air again, they had all the scanners running, but it was useless. No matter how clearly they could see what was going on below, it was no help if they didn't know who they were looking for.

"This is useless, String. What'dya say we get back down there and see if we can find out who we're looking for before we go looking for them?"

"We might as well, we're not getting anything from up here."

\A/

"I'm so sorry," Mike apologized, looking up guiltily, scrambled eggs splattered across the floor. "I didn't mean to make a mess. They were sticking to the pan and I tried…. Never mind, you can see what happened. I'll get something to clean this up."

"It's alright, I'll get it," Ellie said, reaching for the paper towels.

"It's my mess. I'd fix more, but I'd probably just make a bigger mess."

"Really, it's no big deal," she assured him. "Back in Da Nang, Saint John injured his right arm and was constantly knocking something off or making a mess, and he _was _left handed."

She got a weak smile out of him for that, but it was obvious it hadn't done much to improve his regularly melancholy mood he had been in lately.

"Thanks for the offer, but I'll get it, maybe I'll actually get that right, can't mess it up much more."

Silently she watched as he took the paper towel roll from her and started to scrub the floor, knowing there wasn't anything she could say to make him feel better; she tried again though.

"Have you ever had me scrambled eggs before?" she asked, leaning down to help him.

"No."

"Well believe me, you were doing yourself a favor when you decided to dump breakfast in the floor. Saint John has made talk about getting a dog just to eat the eggs I make every morning that no one will ever eat. I don't think it would work though; the dog, probably wouldn't eat them either."

"Ellie, I appreciate it, but you don't put down your cooking to try making me fee better. I have a hard time believing you eggs could be that bad after everything else you have fixed has been amazing. I'll get over the pity party eventually," he promised. "I know my behavior has been pretty lousy lately too, and I'm sorry for that. It's difficult on a lot of levels, but that's no excuse."

"Mike, I'm glad to have you here and we all want to help you through this, but we can't unless you tell us what you need. None of us expect you to be at your best, you could have died for goodness sakes! You're being too hard on yourself."

"Maybe," allowed, "but I have to go back, and the Air Force is going to want me back out there as soon as possible, not sulking behind whining about what I can't do. I've been putting it off as it is and I'd rather get back on my own before they find out I'm alive and label me AWOL."

"I understand, I'll even drive you out there if you want, just try to keep in mind that it's natural for you struggle with some things after shattering your whole collarbone and nearly getting blown to pieces."

"I guess you're right, just have to take it one problem at a time until I'm back in the air." and maybe catch a few "rides" with Hawke along the way, he thought hopefully.


	5. Chapter 5

**CHAPTER 5**

"We can't do it, Michael, it's just not possible. We can't find him if we don't know what we're looking for."

"We have some leads we're following up on now. A couple witnesses reported the incident as it happened, and currently I'm trying o get some interviews to see if there was anything they left out, any suspicious activity, or anything else out of the ordinary. Given time we can probably piece something together."

"How much time?"

"A couple of hours at least. I'll let you know."

"Fine, just hurry up. Airwolf out."

"So we spend another night sleeping in the cockpit," Dominic surmised.

"Pretty much."

"Fun," he remarked sarcastically, "just what I like to do in my free time."

"Not my idea of exciting either."

"Maybe he'll come up with something useful and we can get the guy and get on with out lives."

"And maybe not."

\A/

"Santini Air," Saint John answered, grateful for the interruption after working on the Steerman for the last hour with little to show for it other than some bruised knuckles. "Yeah, we do movie stunts, what did you have in mind?" he paused, listening to the details. "That's quite a set up you have planned, when did you say you need it by? …. Okay, we should be able to work something by next week. Yes, I'm sure… I understand." He hung up the phone with a deep sigh. If they could pull it off, this would bring quite a bit of much needed income. If they couldn't though…. Now he just needed String and Dom back, Caitlin at work again, and maybe a week to practice. Too bad Caitlin was still recuperating at the cabin and String and Dom were off chasing some criminal halfway around the world.

Climbing back up the ladder, he set to work again on the Steerman, knowing he needed to get it and both the Jet Rangers in top running order if there was any possibility of them pulling this stunt off.

He had to be crazy, he realized, otherwise he never would have agreed to do something this ridiculous, especially without anyone to do it with him.

No sooner than he had made it to the top, he started back down the ladder to call String and Dom and warn them about the upcoming event and hope they were on the way back by now.

\A/

"Airwolf, Knightsbridge."

"We're here," Hawke answered somewhat irritably. "We obviously don't have anything better to do."

"I think we have an ID for this evasive personality you've been chasing all day."

"You need to do better than think. The name of the game is it take him out and get the heck out of here."

"It's Claude DePaul then. He's French, interestingly enough, at least as far as we can tell. Marella is sending a full description to Airwolf's computer system now. No one has seen or heard from him since the hotel bombing though, that's the strange thing."

"I would think that's a good thing since every time someone hears from him they get threatened, bombed, or threatened then bombed."

"It would be except we're afraid he hasn't gone underground for good. There have been theories he's planning something more significant than a few blocks of strategically placed C-4 in the basement or parking garage of a hotel."

"How likely are these theories?"

"It's all unsubstantiated at this point, of course. Too many people have died already though and I don't want any more to."

"I agree, but personally I'd rather not die along with them if it can be avoided."

"Marella is sending over everything we have on him, that's all I can do for now. Whoever Claude DePaul is, he's careful. No one claims any ties to him and no one has heard of him. He's just a small time chef at a little restaurant outside of Paris. Maybe he's cooking up more than just a handful of recipes in that kitchen. If he does have help he makes sure they don't talk though or they're die hard fans; neither is particularly good."

"I've got it," Dom reported from the back as the files began to fill the screen in front of him. "Uh-oh, that's not all I've got. There's a couple of Mirages headed this way too. Twenty five miles and closing."

"Michael, I gotta go," Hawke said as he began the startup sequence. "It looks like these 'bigger pans' are coming this way - a pair of French Mirages, fully armed." He cut the call off before Michael even had a chance to reply, counting off the seconds until they could be airborne.

"Fifteen miles and still coming strong," Dominic announced.

Lifting off the ground, String called for combat mode and hovered, waiting for the Mirage to fall into his trap.

"Ten miles… five…" Dom counted down. "Wait a minute, they're deviating. We're not the target, they're heading straight for the capital!"


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

"Airwolf, Santini Air," Saint John radioed in.

"Keep it short," String answered, asking for the turbos in the background.

"Sorry, I'm not trying to interrupt," he apologized, "just trying to warn you we have a stunt scheduled for next week, a real big one. I was hoping to get some idea when you'd be back. I'm sure Cait would like to know too; Chance misses you I'm told."

"Soon hopefully, I'll get back to you on the rest assuming we manage to get to the capital before it gets blown up."

He signaled for Dom to end the transmission and bring up a missile as he continued to gain on the Mirages.

Just as he slid the visor down, the Mirages broke off again.

"Dammit, where are they going this time?"

"One looks like it's going to make a low level bombing pass on the east side of the city, the other one appears to be heading back," the engineer answered.

"You don't sound so sure of yourself."

"I can't understand why he would - I mean, come all this way then just leave without doing a single thing. It could be a mechanical I guess, could be anything. For now let's just worry about the one about to flatten the city."

The French ship flew directly toward the capitol building, lining up for a direct shot, about to fire a missile when Airwolf flew by, slipping between it and its target. Ignoring the bait, the pilot circled back around for another pass.

"He's not taking the bait."

"Then we'll keep at it until he does."

"Twice more, Airwolf intercepted the target before the other pilot got fed up and went after the nuisance.

"You got your wish, String, and you better be ready for it. He's trying to lock onto us."

"Yeah, not we just have to keep them trying until we lead them out of the city."

"If we can get them to tail us that long, we'll be over international waters in about ten minutes."

"It's definitely a long shot, but it's worth a try."

"Just remember not to let them get out of you sights, but not too close either."

\A/

"Thanks again for the ride."

"We're going to have to find something else to talk about or you're going to drive us both crazy. You're welcome, I actually like the time away from the house occasionally, but you really don't have to keep telling me thank you. Just promise to come by again when you can. We like having you around."

"Maybe I'll be able to get transferred back in this general direction," he said hopefully. "It'll be a while before I'm back to active flight status, so who know what they'll have me doing, but one can hope."

"I'm sure it'll turn out alright," Ellie assured him. "I know it will."

"That makes one of us," Mike replied as he fixed his collar and reached for his cover even as Ellie came to a stop.

"Good luck, Mike."

He nodded his appreciation and climbed out of the car, watching her drive away and then began his journey to the general's office.

\A/

"I need help with my homework," Joshua announced.

"Can Le help you? I'm kinda busy at the moment," Saint John answered, struggling to loosen a stubborn bolt.

"I'm trying to do mine own," Le complained.

"Please, just look at it and see what it is - probably something, you can do thirty seconds anyway."

"Fine."

Yelping, Saint John bit back a few choice words that came to mind as his hand slipped and he stabbed himself with something sharp somewhere within the depths of the Jet Ranger's engines. Climbing off the ladder, he made his way to the sink to wash up, leaving a stick trail of blood behind him.

"Daddy, Le won't help me," Josh whined, entering the room again, stopping short when he saw the blood drips across the floor and the gash running down Saint John's arm.

"You alright?" he asked concernly.

"Yeah, just a scratch," he replied, rummaging the cabinets for some band aids or gauze. "Go one back to the office and work on what you can, I'll be there in a minute."

Finally locating the gauze, he began wrapping the self-inflicted wound. The worst part was that he still wasn't finished yet. The stupid bolt was still as stuck as before and there wasn't anyone else there to do it but him. He'd have to get back to it after helping Josh with his homework and mopping up his mess, hopefully without nearly amputating his arm next time.


	7. Chapter 7

**CHAPTER 7**

"They're breaking off," Dom warned.

"We're almost there. Do you think they'll follow us for another two minutes?"

"No, they're leaving now."

"Give me the guns then, let's see if we can persuade them to stick around for a while longer.

Abruptly changing directions, he followed the enemy aircraft, firing on it the entire way.

"I don't think he appreciates it, String," Dom chuckled. "He's taking evasive maneuvers."

"And he's about to be evading right back the direction he came from."

"You've got him, String, and we're over water, nothing left but to- Never mind. His friend's is back and closing fast. You got to get us out of here now, he's trying to lock on to us."

He immediately dropped their speed and altitude, hoping the Mirage would fly over them, but he had already sent a heat seeker after them.

"Dropping a sunburst," Dom said even as he punched the button and watched as the missile exploded behind them. "Just the two of them now, the rest of the scope if clean," Dom announced.

"Time to take them out then, we've been playing around too long. Bring up two Copperheads."

"It's all you."

He slid down the visor and took aim, snapping it up again as soon as his shots were taken and saw the burning hulks of the two aircrafts go down.

"Nice shooting," Dom complimented.

"Let's just head back home."

\A/

Stuck in traffic a block away from the hangar. It would figure, Ellie thought to herself as she waited for the officer directing traffic to get back to her side of the street. She was just glad she wasn't part of the source of this traffic disaster. Apparently an ambulance had ended up on its side and two other cars would up on top of each other in a ditch. They had already called in life flight, and it looked like the worst was out of the way, but she couldn't help but wonder how the incident had played out in the first place, not that she probably _really _wanted to know. The ambulance too, undoubtedly trying to help someone in need, had only ended up victimizing more people. Eventually the traffic began to flow again long enough for her to be able to reach the side street Santini Air was located on.

As she pulled into an empty space, her thoughts drifted once more, this time to the man she had just dropped off - Mike. She wished him the best and had done all she could for him, but still wished he hadn't had to go, at least not yet. He was getting better, but the frustration every time he messed something up was obvious, and like he had said, he _**was **_truly terrible at being left handed. Life continued on though, broken collarbone or not, and he realized that despite it all he had to count his blessings for just being alive and able to walk, to have any chance of getting on with his life. Maybe he would show up again sometime soon though. Like he said, anything could happen.

Stepping inside the hangar, she found an odd assortment of parts, tools, and homework strewn across the floor, Le and Joshua steadily working on cleaning it up as Saint John put away the mop.

"You boys sure are messy. You up to no good as usual?"

"Of course," her fiancé answered mischievously. "What else?"

"I don't know. What'd you do to your arm?" she queried, catching sight of the bandages.

"I cut it working on the Jet Ranger, it's no big deal though. You dropped Mike off alright? I still feel bad about not going' it's just like last time he shipped off, I wasn't there when he needed me."

"This is different, and he understands anyway. You _couldn't _go for the same reason you couldn't go with String and Dom. Someone needed to stay behind and take care of the business."

"Maybe so, but can I really use that excuse for everything? I can't do something with Le or Josh because I'm working. I can't take Mike back to the base because I'm working. And I can't go on missions, can't back Dom and my brother, because I'm working. Santini Air is important to me, but not _that _important. What's the point if I miss everything going on around me?"

"You're not going to miss everything, we won't let you," she assured him, "and Mike will be back, soon if he has any say in the matter."

"I guess you're right."

"Of course I am. If I weren't you wouldn't have proposed to me. Twice."

"Twice? I don't remember… hey , I don't think that first time counts, it was more of you asking me."

"You agreed."

\A/

Rain poured off the roof in torrents as if trying to cover the entire cabin in a never-ending blanket of water. Lightning streaked across the sky, followed by a loud rumble of thunder that startled Caitlin even though she knew it was coming. It wasn't like she could sleep anyway though. How likely was it to be storming like this halfway around the world? Not that likely, she figured, but still hoped it wasn't. It would be terrible weather to fly in, if it was even possible, and she could see String and Dom fighting the storm in search of some mystery terrorist.

Clenching her robe tighter around her, she made her way down the hall to Chance and Mia's room, surprised to find her son not in bed. As she peered over the crib railing to check on Mia, she found him curled up at one end beside her, his little hand gently clasping her even smaller one. She started to reach down to pick him up, but stopped mi-motion, deciding it would be alright for one night. Really she couldn't blame him for wanting company, although it looked more like he was more trying to comfort Mia than seek it himself. He was a good kid and going to grow into a fine man one day, with an uncanny resemblance to his father perhaps, but that wasn't necessarily all bad.

Walking down the stairs toward the kitchen, she thought she heard something outside but quickly dismissed it, thinking it was probably just the storm; after all who else would be crazy enough to be out there? She made herself a cup of tea and went back to the living room to sit by the fire, taking in the warmth and listening to the soft crackling of the wood. For several minutes she sat in contentment, nearly drifting off until she heard the frond door open with a slight creek and booted feet him the wooden floor.

She started to turn to see what it was, but before she could he was at her side, catching her up to him in a wet but loving embrace.

"String."

He kissed hr as he pulled her closer still. "Better be," he answered, "or your husband is going to be pretty mad."

"Good to have you back."

"Good to be back. The kids already in bed?"

"They're asleep," she confirmed, "I'm sure about the already part though. It's almost two thirty."

"Why aren't you in bed then?"

"Couldn't sleep."

"That's my job, and right now I think I could sleep for two days straight. Now go up there and get some sleep. I have to get out of these wet clothes and I'll be right behind you."

\A/

Only a week of this, Mike thought hopefully as he shifted uncomfortably in his bed. A debriefing, interview, and a couple of meetings along with whatever other things they found necessary to fit in while he was here and then he had thirty days medical leave. He could go home. Well, sort of. Technically he didn't have a "home" anymore other than his bunk at the base since he had had to get rid of the apartment, but he had faith he could find a place. There were hotels if nothing else, maybe find a temporary apartment somewhere, or take someone up on their offers to let him stay with them for a while. Then he'd be back to his new assignment which would probably be largely based on how he was doing physically and how soon he could be back in the air. Only time would tell though.

\A/

**About a Week Later…**

"Turkey? One would think it was thanksgiving or something," Dom teased.

"I thought you said you were making something simple," Saint John agreed. "now I fee guilty about not helping."

"We have a lot to be thankful for, Dom," Ellie returned, "and Cait and I had it under control. Also, I have something special for you," she said, returning with slightly smaller dish and handing it to the younger Hawke brother. "It's mushroom risotto. From what I understand you might have to share it with Chance too though."

"I don't see a problem with that; there's more than plenty here."

"Mashed potatoes please," Chance requested.

"They're coming your way."

"This is great," Saint John praised. "My complements to both the chefs."

"Well thank you," Caitlin said, getting up to refill the bowl of cornbread. Putting in the last piece into the bowl, she heard someone at the door and went to answer it. Pulling open the door, she found Mike Rivers who smiled sheepishly back at her.

"I'm back," he said, "do you, by any chance, have room for me for a while?"

"Of course, come on in. I'll put you bag in the guest room so you can go ahead and start eating."

"I can get them."

"I insist."

"You sure there's enough? I wasn't trying to-"

"Mike, you're practically family, there's always enough for family. Besides, when you see the feast you won't have anymore doubts. You know how Ellie always fixes four times more than we need. Now go dig in, Major."

"Yes 'mam. It's Lieutenant Colonel now, but how can I refuse an order like that?"


End file.
